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Michigan, Penn State take aim at NCAA title berths

By BTN.com staff -
2 years ago

The Big Ten landed two schools in the Final Four of the 2012 NCAA women’s volleyball tournament, as Michigan takes on No. 3 seed Texas at 7 p.m. ET before top seed and Big Ten champion Penn State faces No. 5 seed Oregon at 9 p.m.

In the video preview in this post, BTN’s Kara Lentz and Michelle McMahon take a close look at both Big Ten squads. Here’s a great place to track Thursday’s events live: NCAA.com’s interactive tournament bracket.

For Penn State, it owns a 1-1 all-time record against the Ducks, who beat the Nittany Lions to open the 2011 season and snap the team’s 94 consecutive home match winning streak. Penn State (33-2) advanced to the national semis with wins over Binghamton (3-0), Bowling Green (3-0), No. 16 Kentucky (3-0) and No. 8 Minnesota (3-1). The Ducks (29-4) defeated Northern Colorado (3-0), Dayton (3-0), BYU (3-1) and Big Ten power Nebraska (3-1) to advance to this match. This is Oregon’s first ever appearance in the NCAA National Semifinals. Read more at GoPSUsports.com.

Michigan (27-11) advanced to the national semifinals for the first time ever with wins over Tennessee (3-2), Louisville (3-1), Michigan State (3-0) and No. 2 Stanford (3-1). Texas (27-4) beat No. 6 USC in three sets to advance to this match. Read more at MGoBlue.com.

Both semifinals – as well as Saturday’s championship at 7 p.m. ET – air on ESPN2.